Page 85 of Merciless Protector

“Turner,” Shawn bellowed. “Get Bailey. Now.”

Everyone turned our way, and the women rushed over. “Okay, let’s get you inside,” one of them said.

I could feel the baby’s head crowning. So maybe I lied. It had started last night. I’d been so busy trying to keep Serenity calm that I’d ignored it. We had to go through so many hoops to get her from state care. It helped she was a legal adult. It didn’t help that she was mute and acting erratically. It had taken effort and highly paid lawyers to get to this point. I wasn’t going to spoil it by having a baby, or so I thought.

Inside, the women worked as one. They had a pallet on the ground and me on it before the next contraction hit. They tried to shoo Shawn out of the building, but he refused.

Not long after, Bailey appeared with her own newborn slung against her. She took my hand as another woman who’d come with her kneeled between my legs.

“Tayla, meet my mom. She’s an experienced midwife. You’re in good hands,” Bailey announced.

Shawn kneeled on the opposite side of Bailey. She nodded at him. “Time for you to be a papa,” she said to him.

Bailey’s mom had my dress modestly rolled up on my knees. The only people in the building were women, except for Shawn. I worried a second for Serenity, but after everything I’d heard about Turner, I knew she was in good hands.

“Now push,” Bailey’s mom said.

For the next however long, I couldn’t measure time except by pain. My hair was a rat’s nest around my head as sweat covered every inch of me before my baby was placed in my arms.

“What’s her name?” someone asked.

That was a good question. I looked up at Shawn.

* * *

A few months later…

David walked me into a home that was fit for a king. It was way too large and too ostentatious for words. My rubber-soled shoes squeaked on the marble floors as I entered. We headed up the left side of a grand double staircase. At the top, we passed an open elevator door.

He opened double doors at the end of the hall, and we stepped in. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but there was my father. He was gray and pale and looked small in the king-size canopy bed. What also caught my attention were the two men standing off to the side. They resembled David and I felt ambushed not expecting to meet my other brothers today. One came forward.

Before I could get closer to the bed, I was waylaid. “Tayla,” the younger one said and wrapped me in a hug. “I’m your brother, Dean.”

He held me a second longer before he let go. His expression was kind and welcoming, unlike the other brother I knew to be Declan. He said nothing and only eyed me suspiciously.

“Is that my daughter?” the frail man said, breaking the standoff between me and Declan, whom I didn’t know I was meeting today.

“Yes, Dad. Tayla’s here.”

David urged me past Dean and forward. I ended up on the right side of the bed.

My daughter let out a little yawn and opened her blue eyes. “You brought my granddaughter,” my father said.

He’d requested it. Shawn hadn’t been happy about the idea and wanted to come. Because everyone thought Shawn was dead, he couldn’t.

I held out my daughter so my father could get a better view. The man grinned. “She looks like a Kewpie doll with that swirl of blonde hair at the top of her head. I wonder where she got that from.”

There was no way I could tell them that Shawn—Matt had blond hair. The Shawn David knew was a brunette. I laughed and shrugged. “Recessive genes.”

My father reached out and patted my hand. “Don’t you worry. We Royals take care of one another. David will make sure you have the money needed for her care. He’ll start a trust for her to ensure she can go to college and have a proper start in life.”

It was a thoughtful gesture because they all assumed I was a single mom. But David eyed his father like he was crazy. I was about to say I didn’t need anything when Declan said, “Mother.”

We all turned toward the double doors as one. When I saw the woman who looked good for her age, I turned to glare at David. He’d promised me his mother wouldn’t be here.

“Mom, why are you here?” David asked with genuine surprise.

She breezed forward like she owned the place, and so she did. “I had to see what all the fuss was about.” She stopped in front of me. “The baby is cute.”

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